1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and in particular to an image forming apparatus in which a protecting member is detachably attached to an inside of the apparatus main body to protect a protected member in the apparatus main body when the image forming apparatus is transported.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus such as a conventional copier, a printer, or a facsimile machine, is detachably attached with a protecting member inside of the apparatus main body so as to prevent the displacement, deformation, and other damages of the members in the apparatus main body due to vibration during transportation when the image forming apparatus is packed and shipped.
On the other hand, during transportation, for example, a process cartridge, which can be attached to and removed from the image forming apparatus main body, is transported separately from the image forming apparatus. In the process cartridge, a photosensitive drum, which is a protected member, is protected during transportation by an openable and closable shutter unit, which is a protecting member.
This process cartridge includes a sealing unit for preventing the leakage of the developer before use. The sealing unit closes the shutter unit during transportation. In other words, during transportation, the sealing unit as a fixing unit fixes the shutter unit into a state in which the photosensitive drum is protected by the shutter unit.
When mounting the process cartridge in the image forming apparatus main body, a user removes the sealing unit, and thereby the shutter unit can be opened and closed. In this state, the process cartridge can be mounted to the image forming apparatus main body. However, when the user fails to remove the sealing unit, since the shutter unit cannot be opened or closed, the process cartridge cannot be mounted to the image forming apparatus main body.
This means that the process cartridge cannot be mounted to the image forming apparatus main body unless the sealing unit is removed. Causing the process cartridge not to be mountable unless the sealing unit is removed, allows the user to notice the removal of the sealing unit (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-56657 (Page 9, FIG. 1)).
In some sheet feeding cassettes, a buffer material, which regulates the movement of a side fence during transportation, is fixed to a sheet feeding tray with a filament tape and the like (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H09-086679).
In the image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-56657, for the detachably mountable components such as a process cartridge, an inability to mount the component on the image forming apparatus allows the user to notice the necessity of removing the sealing unit.
However, there are cases that the user cannot recognize the presence of a fixing unit when a protecting member as the fixing unit is detachably mounted in the apparatus main body for protecting the protected member in the apparatus main body. Even in the case of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H09-086679, the user may fail to remove the buffer material serving as a protecting member. In this case, the protecting member will be left mounted in the apparatus main body. When the apparatus main body is driven with the protecting member thus being left mounted, the apparatus main body cannot work normally.